1. Field
An aqueous composition, a method of producing a conductive thin film using the same, a conductive thin film produced therefrom, and an electronic device including the same are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic device like a flat panel display such as an LCD or LED, a touch screen panel, a solar cell, and a transparent transistor, includes an electrically conductive thin film or a transparent electrically conductive thin film. A material for an electrically conductive thin film may be required to have, for example, high light transmittance of greater than or equal to about 80% and low specific resistance of less than or equal to about 100 microohm centimeters (μΩ*cm) in a visible light region. These materials may be applied to various arts depending on a sheet resistance value range. For example, a material having sheet resistance of greater than or equal to about 300 ohms per square (ohm/sq) is desirable for use in an antistatic film or an electrode for a touch screen panel. A material having sheet resistance of about 20 to about 50 ohm/sq is desirable for use in a transparent electrode for a display such as a flexible display or E-paper, and a material having sheet resistance of less than or equal to about 10 ohm/sq is desirable for use in a solar cell and an LED electrode.
The currently-used transparent electrode material may include indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and the like. The ITO is an n-type semiconductor that produces oxygen vacancy and electrons by SnO2, and electrical and optical properties of the ITO are determined by vacancies in a crystalline In2O3 structure. The ITO has satisfactory transmittance in a full visible light range, and shows sheet resistance of greater than or equal to 100 ohm/sq when deposited at room temperature. However, the ITO has insufficient flexibility and is expensive due to limited indium reserves. Therefore, there is a need for f a flexible transparent electrode material having low sheet resistance as well as high transmittance is needed, which could substitute ITO.